Getting Rid of Halloween Candy: The Switch Witch, Candy for Troops, and More!

Halloween is coming and there is one thing that must happen when the day has come and gone: Getting rid of all that excess Halloween candy!  Between eating it, The Switch Witch, Candy for Troops, and the Food Bank it is incredibly easy to get rid of all the extra sugar in your house.

What is the Switch Witch?

The Switch Witch is a good witch who visits your house on Halloween night while the children are asleep.  She takes the children’s Halloween candy and leaves a small present in its place.  She is best friends with dentists and lives near the Tooth Fairy.  OK, so maybe I made that part up….but you get the point!  There is actually a Switch Witch book available to purchase.

I fell in love with the idea of the Switch Witch a few years ago.  When we were done trick-or-treating we came home and sorted our candy (tell me you do that too!) and decided which favorite pieces were essential to keep.  The girls chose between 30 and 40 pieces each out of hundreds of pieces of sugary, corn syrupy, artificially flavored sweetness.  We then put the rest of the candy into a witches cauldron (which we happened to have on hand).  We read the Switch Witch Poem (which I found on Facebook and can’t properly site the original source) and said good-bye to the candy.

Then I wrapped up two small presents for the girls and left a The Switch Witch Was Here poem  with the presents.  I wrote that poem myself.  Kudos to me, right?  I spent $9 total ($4.50 each) on their Switch Witch presents.  In case you are wondering what they are – each girl got a Squinkies bracelet and a dress which I used a free gift card towards.  I love this idea because it lets kids have control over keeping some candy and it gives them ownership of getting rid of all the excess candy that they won’t eat.

Candy for Troops

The Candy Halloween Buy Back Program takes your unwanted Halloween candy and mails it to troops who are overseas.  Dentists in your area partner with this program and offer to “buy” back kids’ Halloween candy at a scheduled event.  Their form of currency may be cash, coupons, toothbrushes, small toys (think Oriental Trading), stickers, or somethign else.  The dentists then send the candy to Operation Gratitude or other military support groups.  If you are interested in this, be sure to see if there is a dental office participating in your area!

Food Banks and Non-Profit Organizations

You can also take your unwanted candy to your local food bank.  I have donated to North Fulton Community Charities for years and love my once a month donation trip.  November is a great month to donate to the food bank since Thanksgiving falls at the end of the month.  Local grocery stores often have drop off bins to accept donations and you can drop off your candy while you are shopping!  Many local non-profit organizations would also love your candy.  Be sure to call around!

Do you have any other ideas for getting rid of Halloween Candy?  Please leave your idea in the comments!

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